Twitter and the Feds

Late Friday, the U.S. Justice Department issued a court order for the Twitter account records of Birgitta Jonsdottir (above), a member of Iceland’s Parliament and early friend of WikiLeaks. At first blush, this would seem to suggest that the Feds’ efforts to build a case against Assange, who was in court in London yesterday and faces an extradition hearing next month, aren’t going that well — it’s hard to envision an organization as tech-savvy as WikiLeaks conveying any sensitive information via Twitter direct messages — and it drew protest from E.U. politicians yesterday. In any case, Twitter refused to comply — or, in the words of Wired‘s Ryan Singel, "Twitter beta-tested a spine."